The Official Franz Wagner Thread

[fendilim]

Did you see our war room reaction when we selected Franz? This was the guy we wanted. I am not sure we wouldn't have taken him at 5 if Suggs hadn't been there.

They had a live feed?

[magicfan217]

I think they had a shot of the Orlando war room on the NBA TV feed. I saw it on TV, not sure if I can find it on you tube or what.

[RookieStar]

I still would have taken Bouknight or Moody at 8, Those were the 2 best players on the board IMO at #8, i would have taken BPA over positional fit. If we took Bouknight or Moody at 8 and than people complain we have too guards, So what if there's no playing time for 1 guy or 2 guys?

There's practice where the whole team practices with each other probably everyday. If they don't get on the court in games, They are still playing in practice.

Than there's the G league, send a player down to the G league where they actually play.

If there's a logjam at GUARD, We can figure out a trade later.

I know we don't play in New York, Philly, Chicago or Boston where you can get booed by your home fans. But if magic fans can be more understanding of the team and passionate, We should BOO WAGNER IF HE DON'T PERFORM IN OUR HOME GAMES.

I'm not sold on Wagner like with Suggs, Bouknight and Moody and I think most Magic fans are not behind the Wagner pick. Wagner is going to have to perform to win over ME and OTHER magic fans.

Wait what? You are gonna boo our own players who are ROOKIES??? WTF?

I don't think we booed Jerian Grant with the garbage performance he always gave us, I don't think we booed Vuc when he played matador defense, I don't think we booed AG when he built a house with all the bricks, now you wanna do it for a rookie?

This was my exact reaction. I read it like 3 times to make sure I wasn’t missing something.

Yeah im dumbfounded....

Well in that logic I think it was perfectly reasonable to boo rookie LBJ when our very own Britton Johnsen served up a facial on his face in his first game of summer league. I mean you are rhe #1 pick and you just get disrespected like that and shut down by Brit?

[OrlandoMagic]

Wait what? You are gonna boo our own players who are ROOKIES??? WTF?

I don't think we booed Jerian Grant with the garbage performance he always gave us, I don't think we booed Vuc when he played matador defense, I don't think we booed AG when he built a house with all the bricks, now you wanna do it for a rookie?

This was my exact reaction. I read it like 3 times to make sure I wasn’t missing something.

Yeah im dumbfounded....

Well in that logic I think it was perfectly reasonable to boo rookie LBJ when our very own Britton Johnsen served up a facial on his face in his first game of summer league. I mean you are rhe #1 pick and you just get disrespected like that and shut down by Brit?

I was at that game. Crowd erupted when Britton dunked on LBJ

[richi_v25]

Whenever I go to any home game it feels like the other team always has more fans and now you want to boo our own team wtf?

[EasternMagic]

If you the 8th pick in a draft there's high expectations. You have to be a starter or coming off the bench with starter minutes and you have to perform. A top 10 drafted guy should be booed if he ain't living up the hype. Certain games a player will be off and if it's an energy/effort issue he should get booed. Which is why BAMBA should be getting booed, He looking like a bust right now.

I want to know the threshold for this booing because I feel like this guy is going to give us 8-10 points coming off the bench for 20 minutes with really good defense. Are you going to boo that? Lmao you really are not paying attention if you think Franz will ever have an effort problem. This guy is a stud on defense with his knowledge and effort

Only 20 minutes a game for the 8th pick in the draft? He should be in the middle to late 20's minutes per game at least unless he gets on the court isn't playing well and 1 or 2 other teammates are playing better than him which could result in them getting more minutes than him.

How are we going to evaulate these guys after the summer league? If they play well, well they not playing against the very best competition in the NBA in the summer league. But if they solid or below solid during the summer league than what's the excuse. I don't know how people are going to react to Wagner during summer league.

With SUGGS I don't care, He's performing no matter who's on the opposing team.

For what it's worth, all of the 8th picks from the past 5 years have averaged almost right at 20 minutes per game during their rookie seasons.

Collin Sexton was the only 8er who averaged over 30 minutes a game during his rookie season. Frank Ntilikina and Marquese Chriss were right around 21mpg during their rookie seasons. Jaxson Hayes was at 16.9, and last year's 8th pick, Obi Toppin averaged 11mpg.

So recent history does not suggest that the 8th pick averages in the mid to late 20s for mpg, but instead almost right at 20mpg. BigDogDylan5 hit the nail on the head. Good job, Dylan.

Carry on.

[Blue_and_Whte]

Wait what? You are gonna boo our own players who are ROOKIES??? WTF?

I don't think we booed Jerian Grant with the garbage performance he always gave us, I don't think we booed Vuc when he played matador defense, I don't think we booed AG when he built a house with all the bricks, now you wanna do it for a rookie?

This was my exact reaction. I read it like 3 times to make sure I wasn’t missing something.

Yeah im dumbfounded....

Well in that logic I think it was perfectly reasonable to boo rookie LBJ when our very own Britton Johnsen served up a facial on his face in his first game of summer league. I mean you are rhe #1 pick and you just get disrespected like that and shut down by Brit?

Its **** idiotic to boo a rookie because its not the player some arm chair GM doesn't like him. Wagner is a defensive stud who can at the very least shoot league average from 3 and he's shown a knack for scoring on down hill drives.

[PrimeThyme]

I got a comp for Fragner. He’s like Gordon and Fournier rolled into one player and averaged out, which is a well rounded player indeed. Especially since he doesn’t seem like he has eyes on being a league leading scorer, meaning he’ll give more to the other areas of his game.

He's such a higher IQ player than both. Even if you combined both collectively Wagner's would still be higher. Especially in terms of shot selection. His skill set overall will allow for him to be a more impact player. I think there are much better comps out there.

[Furinkazan]

Im not a fan of this pick to be honest but we got Suggs so I guess I can let this slip by
but if Bouknight or Moody will explode in a few years and Wagner will be just a rotational meh player iM going to bitch night and day about it.

[pepe1991]

Wagner is boring, safe pick. Will he turn into star? No. Will he bust out? Probably not.
We can argue should Magic swing for fances after drafting "safe" Suggs. However, if that "swinging" ment drafting Ziaire Williams
i'm happy they didn't.


I highly doubt that 2,3,4 years when somebody decides to do redraft, Wagner will be considered top 10 player from a draft, but i assume that after Bamba fiasco they just didn't want to look like fools again

[D12VCMagic]

I like him the more I look into him. He can defend, drive to the basket and finish and while his shooting needs some improving, he definitely has a shot. It wasn’t exciting but Wagner was probably the best pick available for the Magic at 8 once the Warriors decided to go for Kuminga instead of Bouknight. I had Bouknight and Mitchell as better prospects but there was just no way we could justify taking another guard. We needed another prospect at forward but I honestly thought it was a shoe in that Orlando got one of Barnes or Kuminga. I will gladly take Wagner instead if that means we got a prospect with star potential like Suggs.

[zaymon]

Are we about having flashy stat padders or winning game's ? Wagner is one of the best defenders in the draft, better than Barnes while being younger. He is smart offensive player who can dribble, shoot and pass. He was known as a shooter before his growth spurt. He propably needs some time to adjust to his body. Kuminga and Barnes were never good shooters. Wagner is better as pick and roll ball handler than both Barnes and Kuminga. He is also taller.
I know upside is almost always measered by athletecism, but Wagner could have as much upside as Barnes and Kuminga. Players who dont make mistakes usually react good to increased role.

[cedric76]

I think they had a shot of the Orlando war room on the NBA TV feed. I saw it on TV, not sure if I can find it on you tube or what.

I d love to see that video clip

[GelbeWand09]

But if magic fans can be more understanding of the team and passionate, We should BOO WAGNER IF HE DON'T PERFORM IN OUR HOME GAMES.

Of all those weird posts you made here over the years. This must be top 5

[drsd]

Is it good or bad if he actually grew a couple inches? I am not sure. I just want to make sure we didn’t just draft a 4/5 with ball skills. Is taller always better?

You cannot teach height. Wagner's defensive capacity means he can guard SFs even if he is a couple inches taller than forecasted. Indeed the Magic's SF core now looks to average 7'0" (Isaac is a legit 6"13" now).

It is clear what Orlando will do with its wing players: 3 and D.

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[drsd]

He's a 3/4 with 4/5 height....it's good...because there isn't many players his height that can do what he can do....i mean you can probably count on one hand maybe two how many 6'10+ players that can move like wings....even less when you factor in on defense he can switch onto whatever player and hold his own

And-1

Wagner's jumper will be un-defendable at the SF slot. If he develops a mid-range game to compliment a long-bomb, he will have all the offensive tools he needs to contribute to this roster.

Wagner will be like "Pat Garrity who also plays defence".


But: I can't wait for this version of a Wagner clip:

Watch on YouTube

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[drsd]

yup.... and we've another one on our team!

Well unlike Barnes, Kuminga, Williams, Johnson, and the-other-Johnson, Wagner's game is all about the perimeter. I am so, so happy with Wagner in general. But I am even happier that the Magic did not draft an "athlete" combo forward.

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[drsd]

Yah, super valuable if it is successful. Like you said it is incredibly rare. Wagner and Isaac pairing sounds terrifying to opponents. I just hope it works.

Do you have Wagner over Okeke in the depth chart (eventually).

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[drsd]

For what it's worth, all of the 8th picks from the past 5 years have averaged almost right at 20 minutes per game during their rookie seasons.

History is indeed informative.

2020-Obi Toppin. Looks like a bench player
2019-Jaxson Hayes. Looks like a bench player
2018-Collin Sexton. Mid-range starter
2017-Frank Ntilikina. Scrub
2016-Buddy Hield. Mid-range starter
2015-Stanley Johnson. Deep bench player
2014-Nik Stauskas. Solid rotational player
2013-Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. High-end 6th man
2012-Terrence Ross. High-end 6th man
2011-Brandon Knight. Solid rotational player



What one takes from this list is that Orlando should forecast the expectation for Wager at "[url]Consistent 15mpg back-up[/url]" (i.e. Solid rotational player). The upside from Management is for Wagner to move in to that High-end 6th man role.

At 8 a team is not expecting to draft for a future starter. And desperately does not want the next "Frank Ntilikina". Those are late-lottery type picks.


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[Ralof]

was not my fav pick at #8,but always considered a solid one,happy they took him.

what i like of him and okeke,is that they have high basketball iq and they could possible become decent if not good shooter from outside(suggs will need all the spacing we could provide him)

way better thand have those superduper athletes with stone hands and poor feel for the game we drafted so many times in the past.